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Friday, March 6, 2009

Altered Priority Box Tutorial

So today I want to show you how to alter a priority box (you know the thing your kit comes in every month). It is super easy to do and makes for a wonderful extra storage solution.

Okay first you will need a few supplies:

~used priority box

~heavy duty scissors

~acrylic paint/ paint brush (any color)

~ruler

~pencil

~coordinating papers and embellishments (your choice)

~adhesive (I used my ATG)

Now that we all have our supplies, lets get started. First you need to find a good working area that you will be able to leave your box for a little while after painting it so it can dry.

1. Measure from the bottom up to 12 1/4 inches and mark with the pencil. Then from the top front corner measure 4 inches going in and 4 inches going down and mark with a pencil. Trace a straight line going from one 4 inch point to the other 4 inch point. Repeat this for both sides. Now cut on your lines.

**You couldalso just as easily take a cropper hopper and lay it onto your box and trace around it.**

2. Now this part can get a little messy, but it is so fun. Take the acrylic paint you chose and paint all the markings that will show up around the edges you don't want seen. I used white for my box and did 2-3 coats on the corners and bottoms to make sure nothing would show through, of course the darker the color the fewer the coats you will need. Just make sure that you let your box dry between coats. After you are done painting let it sit and dry completely before continuing on to step 3.

3. Now that your box has completely dried take the papers you chose and measure them to fit slightly smaller than the sides of the box (this way you see the painted corners). Now adhere your papers to both sides with your adhesive. I left my back and bottom paperless. I did triple coat the back and bottom in paint so there are no markings showing through, but found it unnecessary for me to cover with paper since noone will see those sides, but you can feel free to cover them with your papers if you choose.

4. Once you are done adhering your papers you can now take on the task of adding your coordinating embellishments to your box. As you can see with mine I added some ribbon, letter stickers and a little bling.

Now you have a storage box that is both functional and pretty. If that isn't enough incentive think of it this way; a cropper hopper costs between $8-$10 and this is something you already have on hand at home so you can save a few dollars to spend on my supplies. These are great for storing your TSR kits.

They could also be used for more than scrapbooking supplies. Try using them to store your cooking magazines, or all those pages your kids color for you that you just can't seem to part with. The possibilities are endless. I would love to see your altered boxes, so once you finish one come back here and leave a comment on this post with a link to the picture of your box.

GEE, I have looked at those boxes many times and said "there must be something creative i could do with these boxes", Ta Da!!! You Go Girl!!!!I will never discard another one. They look so good grouped together. thanks, ms.cheryl